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5.31.2012

Safety facts about UV Nail Lamps

Okay, ladies (and the occasional gentleman who wanders this way). I'm a little tired of all the negative backlash about UV lamps. No, we don't need to go looking like Tan Mom but at the same time, we can't just let some snippet in a magazine or blurb on the news scare us from things like gel manicures.

Image via HLNTV

Good Morning America aired a segment in April about gel manicures and UV nail lamps. Unfortunately, I was not able to watch it (silly work), but I wanted to share the information that CND sent out. You can also read more here and if you have any questions, ask in the comments! I am not a nail technician but CND has extended an invitation to PolishGalore readers to ask questions and they will help me get you the right answer. :]

UV Nail Lamp Safety
Information

As of April 11, 2012

According
to Dr. Robert M. Sayre, Ph.D., of Rapid Precision Testing Laboratories one
of the creators of the SPF rating system: “UV Nail Lamps are safer than
natural sunlight or sunlamps.”

Dr.
David Valia, Director of Research and Development for CND, compares the
exposure from a UV lamp to that of indoor fluorescent lighting. He
explains, “The amount of energy from a UV lamp during a nail service would
be roughly equivalent to the amount of UV exposure one would experience
during a typical day of exposure in indoor fluorescent lighting.”

According
to Dr. Sayre: “People who are indoors have little to no skin risk
due to long term exposure to fluorescent lighting. People who sunbathe or
work outdoors have real risks of excessive UV exposure, the cause of
sunburn and skin cancer.”

The
exposure from a bi-weekly UV manicure is equivalent to “an extra 1-2
minutes in daylight each day between salon visits,” says Doug Schoon,
CND’s Chief Scientific Advisor and author of Nail Structure and Product
Chemistry.

Although
hands are the most exposed, they’re also the least susceptible to UV
sensitivity. According to Dr. Sayre, “It would take 6 – 10x more exposure
to your hands to produce mild sunburn than it would to produce a burn on
your face, abdomen or back. UV Nail Lamps are used on one of the least
susceptible parts of your body.”

Hands
get more UV exposure holding the steering wheel of a car or talking on a
cell phone outside than they do from the use of UV nail lamps.

UV
nail lamps have been on the market for over 30 years and there have been
no proven reports linking them to premature aging or skin cancer.

Just
like you put sunscreen on your face, we recommend putting sunscreen on
your hands throughout the day, especially after washing them.

4 comments
:

I'm glad you posted this!! I've seen a couple of wierd get-ups suggesting that you need to wrap every part of your finger except the nail before putting it in a lamp. That just seems rediculous to me because if it was so dangerous that you had to wrap your fingers, obviously it wouldn't be ok to expose the nail bed either. Rediculous, and yet, the thing I saw had left me with questions and lingering doubt. I'm so glad to have this clarified with actual facts. Thank you!!